AHC: Both parties nominate a former President

What it says on the tin. Give me a post-1900 scenario in which both of the two main American political parties nominate a former President. Not an incumbent mind you, but someone who was once President and isn't anymore. Obviously this will be difficult since in OTL the last former President to even attempt a comback was Teddy Roosevelt in 1912. But let's get those creative juices going and see if you can do it. Bonus points if it's post-22nd Amendment (or 22nd Amendment analog).
 
The American people are so fed up with everyone in 2012, Jimmy Carter gets the Democratic nomination, and Bush sr. gets the Republican.
 
Can one even compete in both the Democratic and Republican Primaries at the same time? If one had to depend upon a Write-In effort then there is absolutely no chance for something of that nature happening. As it is you would need someone who is universally popular, which is not possible. There is not a single realistic method I can think of where one, even if they could compete in the primaries, would be tolerable to both the Democratic and Republican Party Members, and thus win their nominations. The politics between the two are simply too different to allow such a result.​
 
A cheap answer:
1988: George H.W. Bush (briefly Acting President in 1985) v. Walter Mondale (assume Hart beats Mondale in '84, but Mondale makes a comeback in '88; also, assume that Mondale was briefly Acting President during Carter's term)

I assume this scores null points, despite being after the 22nd Amendment... :)
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More seriously, I'd suggest having someone who rose to the presidency by accident, someone who didn't want to run for a full term in their own right. There's also the possibility of someone who rises to the presidency, but ends up facing a serious illness - enough to prevent them from being able to run for re-election right away.
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Ariosto, OP's asking for a race between two former presidents, not for the same ex-president to run on both parties' tickets.
 
A cheap answer:
1988: George H.W. Bush (briefly Acting President in 1985) v. Walter Mondale (assume Hart beats Mondale in '84, but Mondale makes a comeback in '88; also, assume that Mondale was briefly Acting President during Carter's term)

I assume this scores null points, despite being after the 22nd Amendment... :)
***
More seriously, I'd suggest having someone who rose to the presidency by accident, someone who didn't want to run for a full term in their own right. There's also the possibility of someone who rises to the presidency, but ends up facing a serious illness - enough to prevent them from being able to run for re-election right away.
***
Ariosto, JHP's asking for a race between two former presidents, not for the same ex-president to run on both parties' tickets.

My mistake, I'll think of something then.​
 
A third party arises in the United States, which gains national fame and power. This third party would be very destructive if it ever gained the White House. Both the Democrats and Republicans nominate a former president to stop it.
 
Cheaper Answer: Al Gore (assuming Clinton was kicked out of office and Gore declined to run as incumbent) wins the Democratic nomination in 2004, Dole wins Republican nomination (served as acting president after Bush sr. suffers from heart attack?).
 
The chances of both the Republican and Democratic parties nominating a former president to run for "re"election in the same election cycle is between zero and none. The only semi-realistic matchup of this kind using OTL former presidents would be a 1980 Ford-Carter contest. Now, if I had no quams about tossing aside plausability nor of employing a bit of handwavium, then I might suggest a scenario set in 2000 in which former Presidents George Bush & Bill Clinton run against each other or one set in 1972 in which former presidents John Kennedy & Richard Nixon run against each other for the 3rd time.
 
In 2000 Bush Sr. and Carter get nominated. Or 1983, Reagan dies, so Carter and Ford both run for the Presidency.
 
Hmmmm... A Reagan-Ford ticket is nominated in 1981, Reagan is assassinated by John Hinckley, and Ford has to fight a comeback President Carter (who maybe avoided a primary challenge from Teddy) in 1984.
 
The closest scenario I could think of culminates in 1952.

Franklin Roosevelt dies sometime after the Tehran Conference in 1943, thus resulting in Vice President Henry Wallace ascending to the Presidency. Despite having the support of the American people, there are many within the Democratic Party who are wary of his more Socialist leanings. Senator Harry Truman is convinced to run by the Party Bosses and narrowly manages to defeat Wallace at the Democratic Convention in Chicago despite the best efforts by the Wallace delegations. Feeling cheated, Wallace decides to run on the Progressive Ballot Line and splits the Democratic Party between the Conservative and Progressive factions. While Thomas Dewey wins in a landslide reminiscent of the election of 1912, Wallace is vindicated in that he has won both more popular and electoral votes than the "true" Democratic ticket.

As a quick summary for 1948, Dewey manages to win renomination for President from the Republican Party with little trouble. Despite calls to do so, Former President Henry Wallace does not enter and instead supported Senator Glen Taylor for the nomination, who would go on to lose to Alben Barkley. The election would be close, but Barkley would be elected the next President by an incredibly narrow margin despite polls showing Dewey being reelected.

As 1952 rolls around, Barkley knows he is old and decides against running for reelection. After some serious though on the matter, Henry Wallace finally decides on throwing his hat into the race and manages to capture the nomination on the second ballot. Some of the Southern delegates, angered by his support of Civil Rights Legislation, storm out and nominate their own ticket to contest the Southern States. Thomas Dewey, still relatively young at fifty, decides to give the Presidency another shot and faces little to no opposition to his nomination at the Republican Convention. Thus, we now have two former Presidents facing each other for the nomination.

  • Former President Henry Wallace (D-IO)/Senator Hubert Humphrey (D-MN)
  • Former President Thomas Dewey (R-NY)/Former Governor Harold Stassen (R-MN)
  • Senator Storm Thurmond (D-SC)/Former Governor Fielding L. Wright (D-MS)
 
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Well in theory you could make the Carter Presidency less troubled so he still loses to Reagan but in a close race.

Reagan picks Ford as his running mate in 1980

Reagan does not run in 1984 for health reasons.

Ford vs Carter 1984

Or if you want Ford as a pure non incumbent, have Reagan/Bush in 1980 but Reagan dies in 1981 and Bush retires in 1984 for health/personal reasons
 
The long awaited 1-vs-1 of the two early 20th century giants - Woodrow Wilson vs. Theodore Roosevelt, 1920 edition.

Hughes wins in 1916, the US enters the war immediately and win in a similar fashion. Hughes either bungles the post-war negotiations or enrages Big Business enough to finally get Wall Street to acquiesce to the return of AH.com's favorite candidate. Roosevelt's children all survive the conflict.

Wilson remains the only viable Democratic candidate and hopes to replicate Grover Cleveland's accomplishment 28 years prior.
 
The long awaited 1-vs-1 of the two early 20th century giants - Woodrow Wilson vs. Theodore Roosevelt, 1920 edition.

Hughes wins in 1916, the US enters the war immediately and win in a similar fashion. Hughes either bungles the post-war negotiations or enrages Big Business enough to finally get Wall Street to acquiesce to the return of AH.com's favorite candidate. Roosevelt's children all survive the conflict.

Wilson remains the only viable Democratic candidate and hopes to replicate Grover Cleveland's accomplishment 28 years prior.

This sounds like the most plausible scenario imho.
The obvious problem is to keep 2 former presidents (who would have most likely lost re-election the first time) politically relevant.
Here's mine anyway-it's a real stretch though (though in my mind just about possible).

Bush suffers a fatal heart attack about a year before the 92 election, leaving Quail as president. On the other side of the isle, Clinton wraps up the nomination as in OTL.
Quail is still gaff-prone, but Bush dies when he's at his most popular, so Quail gets a sympathy boost. It's not enough though and Clinton wins a narrow victory.

For whatever reason, Clinton isn't as successful at tackling Gingritch and co during the second part of his first term, leading to dissatisfaction amongst the left-wing of his party. In 1996, Clinton faces a challenge for his renomination (any ideas of who could potentially do this?).
He beats this person handily, but this is enough to split the party and the challenger runs as a third party candidate.
There's no chance of them winning however and most political pundits predict Clinton’s re-election despite the third party run.

The results of the 1996 election are a shock to even the most ardent republican supporters, as it becomes apparent that the third party candidate successfully split the democratic vote, leading to an extremely narrow Bob Dole victory (though Clinton did win the popular vote).

By this time, Quail is the governor of Indiana (he maintains enough popularity from his extremely short presidency to beat Evan Bay). He refused to run for the 1996 nomination, believing Clinton to be unbeatable. He strongly endorsed Dole for the nomination however and many people view his support as crucial to Dole's campaign.

Dole's term doesn't go well, the butterflies are enough to cause a recession.

Clinton remains popular with the public at large and it is widely expected that he will run against president Dole in 2000. Many democrats blame
Clinton's loss on the third party run the previous election cycle, his renomination is a foregone conclusion even before he announces his run.

In 1999 Bob Dole makes a shocking announcement, saying he will not run for a second term "due to health concerns". This leaves the 2000 presidential field wide open. Quail has managed to remain popular in Indiana and despite foes trying to pick wholes in his record, they're unable to do so.

Come November 2000, it's Clinton v. Quail round 2...
 
George Romney is chosen as Nixon's Vice President in 1968, they win against Humphrey in the general. As Romney is clean of scandal, he isn't forced to resign like Agnew was in 1973. In this, McGovern faces a battle for the Democratic nomination in 1972 from Henry Jackson; splitting the party. To this extent, Watergate never happens as Nixon is confident of re-election. Nixon/Romney are re-elected and Nixon does not resign in 1974, going on to serve out his term until 1977.

Romney faces Reagan in the 1976 GOP primary while Jackson storms into the Democratic lead, finally Henry Jackson is nominated for the Democrats with his opponent being Ronald Reagan. A bitter, bloody campaign follows where the Republicans take control of the House but lose the White House to Jackson. President Jackson has major successes in the areas of job creation, energy, urban redevelopment and foreign policy where he works with the Republicans but a Christian wing, led by Reagan with major influence in Congress blocks his plans for the economy, health and education, effectively holding Jackson hostage. With a poor economy, Jackson is defeated in the 1980 election by a resurgent Reagan.

Reagan becomes President in 1981 with a strongly conservative Congress, the economy improves in late 1982 but in December of that year, he is shot by John Hinckley Jr., a former government worker in Los Angeles (butterflies ensure the 1981 attempt is delayed as President Jackson's job creation efforts ensured Hinckley Jr. had a stable income as a govt. worker till Reagan's policies cut his job). The injury is much more serious ITL and the Cabinet led by Secretary of State Al Haig (who wants the Presidency at a later date) convinces the weak-willed Vice President Howard Baker to invoke the 25th Amendment, thus Baker is sworn in as President on December 17th 1982.

Reagan recovers from his injury while plotting to replace Baker in 1984, in similar conditions, former President Jackson who has become a beacon for moderates and liberals following blatant gerrymandering and partisanship from the Christian GOP wing of Congress plans another bid. Baker, a well-intentioned man narrowly enacts a far more moderate domestic and foreign policy agenda than Reagan with support of GOP moderates and the Democrats, with a good economy he is expected to get the nomination in 1984 until Reagan announces he intends to and as such Baker is cut off by the GOP leaving him as a lame-duck, Jackson gets the DNC nomination for a third time as does Reagan.
 
The long awaited 1-vs-1 of the two early 20th century giants - Woodrow Wilson vs. Theodore Roosevelt, 1920 edition.

Hughes wins in 1916, the US enters the war immediately and win in a similar fashion. Hughes either bungles the post-war negotiations or enrages Big Business enough to finally get Wall Street to acquiesce to the return of AH.com's favorite candidate. Roosevelt's children all survive the conflict.

Wilson remains the only viable Democratic candidate and hopes to replicate Grover Cleveland's accomplishment 28 years prior.

There are two problems with this.

  1. Teddy Roosevelt was the one who pushed for Hughes to win the nomination in the first place at the Republican Convention in 1916, rather than running himself, despite pressure from the more Progressive delegations and an attempted draft by the Progressive Party. I don't see Roosevelt running against Hughes the same way he ran against Taft.
  2. You would have to extend Roosevelt's life in some way without significantly changing the electoral politics at the time. Some would suggest allowing Quentin Roosevelt surviving the Great War but I am not sure what sort of effect that would have on his personal health, or rather if it would seriously extend it. There is every chance that Roosevelt could have died Campaigning for the Nomination or even the Office of President itself.
 
For a situation like this there is this recipe I thought of:

President A from Party 1 is hugely popular and after two terms manages to elect a figure from his administration President. President B, however, does not do that well(incumbency fatigue?) and loses the election to President X of Party 2. President X dies fairly close to the next election and his vice-president, President Y, can't really run because of how close the election is. He isn't very well-known either. So President C of Party 1 wins the election, but his term is so horrible that Party 1 decides that the only way they'll win the election is to nominate ol' President A. At the same time, former President Y(now, i dunno, a senator), know much better known, runs. Thus we have former President A vs. former President Y.
Sorry if it's really confusing, but then again it's just a template situation.

Or, alternatively, zombie teddy roosevelt and zombie FDR are nominated in the 2000 election. Thus we have former presidents who are from the same family. :D
 
This scenario starts before 1900, and I'm not sure how well it actually works.

1896: Less interesting than IOTL. The Republican nominee is less successful than McKinley (and probably isn't McKinley) and Bryan carries the day.

1900: Teddy wins the vice-presidency, and Bryan goes into retirement. It doesn't matter who the Republican president is, since Leon shoots him as IOTL.

1904: Essentially the same as IOTL.

1908: Roosevelt passes the presidency off to *Taft as IOTL.

1912: Bryan and Roosevelt both come back and win their parties' nominations.
 
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